Dear Loved Ones,
The big news of the week is: RAIN! Halle-freaking-lujah! Our parched, burned state got drenched by our first winter storm and our first measurable rain since July. I haven’t been this excited for rain since I lived in Tucson, waiting for July’s first monsoon storm. I don’t know how the earth reacts to being dry and on fire and then going straight to snow, but I hope it doesn’t create more disaster.
Our week has been lovely. Everyone is settling into the structure of the school year and things seem to be going pretty well. Monday was a nice day of catching up on chores and babysitting Laney again. Adeline came home nauseated and exhausted after seminary and she slept for 3 hours. I was afraid she had already caught a virus cuz she wore herself out, but she was fine after getting some sleep and a nutritious smoothie or two. That night everyone was home for dinner and Family Home Evening. Taking a cue from Standards Night, we had a lesson straight off the “For the Strength of the Youth” webpage. We talked about Work and Self-Reliance, and then Addie went with me to the Smith’s case lot sale, where we only found 2 cases of stuff we need. We also got a little formal dress at Macy’s for 75% off ($55--neighbor, that’s a GANGA!). I’m glad she isn’t sick!
Tuesday we babysat Laney again and cleaned up the fridge and made soccer and lunch snacks. We had a busy afternoon with Niles’ school open house followed by his soccer practice and squeezing in dinner and baths before 7:30...good times! It started raining a bit that night and we were just over the moon. The fall colors seemed to just burst out this week, too. I hope the winter storm doesn’t make all the leaves fall at once. That always makes me so sad. Fall colors are just my absolute favorite thing, so I like when they last into November. And then I want a big snowfall to cover all the dead ugly stuff and make it sparkle, with a fresh dusting of snow every 3 days to cover the dirt. I don’t ask for much ;)
Wednesday is when our storm really kicked up and James’ soccer practice was cancelled while I was driving him there. So we went home and enjoyed a cozy yummy dinner of chicken tacos before Scouts and YW. Rich held a nice Court of Honor for his scouts who earned a ton of badges over the summer. James and his 11-year-old buddies were welcomed into the troop as well. I was going to slip out and take the little boys home to bed, but Heidi needed help on Family Search because the YW were preparing family names to take to the temple on Saturday. We still all got home and into bed before nine which is a miracle.
Thursday was stormy all day. Niles woke up with a cough and sore throat, so I kept him home. I gave him some Emergen-C and a little morning nap and he was as good as new, back to writing rock songs for his rock band (“Rock Rhino”) by the afternoon. He did some drumming for a while, which he does with one arm tucked inside his shirt like the drummer for Def Leppard, then he was up at the piano workin’ on his melodies while I cooked dinner and Ammon played on the iPad. We made our first fire of the season and everyone was home and cozy except for Adeline, who had to work (I bet the open fire at Cluck felt really good on a cold night!).
Friday was a pretty busy day with celebrating the Jones Twins’ birthday, temple trip prep and a baby shower for the Denniston’s new baby Quinnly in the evening. It is wonderful to have so many happy things to celebrate, though. We all went to bed early because Richard and the girls had to wake up at 3:40am to go to the temple for a 6:30 session. I had planned to go back to sleep until 7 but I couldn’t sleep. I got the boys up at 7 and reported to the soccer fields at 7:45am for James’ game. The wind chill was 28* and we were grossly unprepared for that kind of cold. Luckily James’ coach had sleeping bags on the sidelines and a nice mom lent James a knit hat. Playing kept him warm, but Niles and Ammon were freezing. Grandma and Grandpa Melin came so we snuggled the boys in big quilts and kept warm. We went home and did some chores and enjoyed a roaring fire. Jill called me around 11am to let me know that Grandma Sine had passed away after being so sick for the past few weeks. She turned 95 on August 30th...what an amazing life. We will miss her but we are so happy to think of her reunion with Grandpa after 29 years. Daddy and the girls came home around noon and we went to Niles’ game at 2pm. His age group is so entertaining! Niles even kicked a goal. We had a little rest and then at 6pm we had the Jones family over for a big taco dinner celebrating Rex & Bea’s 7th birthday and our 3rd Friendversary. It was a lovely evening. The 5 big girls went over to Denniston’s for a movie night and our boys crashed hard at 9pm. We are so grateful for good friends and all these great families who host the teenagers!
Today (Sunday) has been a little busier than we prefer but it was a good day. We had a nice high council Sunday with messages about the power of music. The youth performed their song from Standards night again for the ward. We came home and fed the kids and I scrambled to get laundry put away so school clothes would be ready and PE uniforms packed, etc. Grandma Rosalie came to stay with the kids while Richard and I attend an insurance conference in Great Falls. We headed out late this afternoon and had a nice dinner and got settled into our room. It was a beautiful drive and and nice night. Princess Bride is on the SyFy channel! I had good phone visits with Dad Post and Sam tonight. I was glad to hear Dad feeling better today, even though I know he is grieving and missing his mom. Thank heaven we know where she is and families are forever. I sure do love ours. In the quiet tonight I have really felt proud of the things our kids accomplished this week and feel so grateful to be their mom and to be on the mission with Richard--he is an awesome companion. Life is good. We hope yours is, too!
All our love and prayers for a great week…
Love, Jamie and RIch and Family
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